Kyōki e no michi
by EikoKiumi
Summary: How did Mayuri become the crazy scientist he is? This is the tale of the boy who became what he is and the events that forced him down the road to madness. More details inside. Eventual Yaoi, rated M. AU for timeline shift.
1. Chapter 1

Hello! I'm sorry to say that I've hit a mayor writer's block when it comes to my other story "Blueberry" that I haven't even been able to write the next chapter at all. I can't even begin it, how sad is that? Anyway, this story has been in my laptop for almost a year and I've decided to go ahead and upload it and see what you guys think about it.

This story takes place in Soul Society but since I have taken liberty with the dates and overall background stories of some of the characters I've marked it as an AU. Anyway, please feel very free and slightly pressured by the author to go ahead and review it. Constructive criticism is welcomed any time.

**WARNING:** This story will become a yaoi eventually, that means Malexmale, dudexdude, semexuke, you get the drill.

This chapter is presented as someone retelling a memory. It will eventually become a more overall 3rd person POV.

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><p>Here you are, looking at that man with disgust. If it was any other shinigami sitting beside you they would agree with you that the great captain was a monster and deserved to be put back on his prison cell from which he should have never been released from.<p>

But I am not them, and therefore cannot say the same. I know who he is, or rather who he used to be. Shall I tell you his story? The story of the happy boy who became a warrior, then a prisoner and would rise to become one of the most feared captain.

Are you sure you are ready for such a story? There might just not be a happy ending to this tale, for the man you see there standing with his blood-curling grin and crazed eyes has been riddled with nothing but cursed luck.

It all began I suppose with his birth. For you see, he wasn't even supposed to be born or at least not by the father he had been born from.

His mother was a courtesan, from the most prestigious brothel of the Red Light District of the Kusanagi District. She was called Yuriko but everyone in the Red Light District called her the Midnight Lotus for her gentle elegance and gracious looks.

A night with her was too costly for the common folk so only the nobility and those of rich pockets could delight themselves with her company. When she became with child she knew the dangers that would entail but chose to keep the child anyway and deal with the consequences later.

The matron of the brothel favored her deeply and when Yuriko had made her decision, while fearful for the life of her best girl she helped her nonetheless. She continued working until she began to show to which she then faked an illness to keep herself away from the prying eyes of her customers, especially from those of whom she knew was the father of her child.

She was a lucky woman and as such her child was born with no problems - no ailments or deformations. He was a beautiful, healthy baby boy whom she named Mayuri using katakana to keep his name original and with no meaning. When asked why she simply responded that she knew her child would become great and when that happened his name would get a meaning. Whichever meaning he wanted it to be.

All the women of the brothel loved the child and spoiled him to no end. He was the "Blue Lotus" for that bright midnight blue hair he carried always messy as he ran through the streets of Kusanagi in one adventure or another.

It had been clear from a very young age that Mayuri was a lot sharper than any normal child his age and as such fellow children and classmates from the small school he attended kept a distance from him. Not that it bothered him since he was always lost in thought or too busy catching frogs to dissect for him to care about such trivial things.

He was six years old when I met him for the first time. There had been a string of murders from different brothels in two months and the women were beginning to worry as peace was disrupted in the old district.

All the victims had been the most popular worker from their brothel, which had caused Yuriko to worry for her safety and that of her child.

None of the shinigami women wanted to lower themselves to work undercover in the Red Light District so in the end I chose to go and deal with things myself. After all my division was expanding the hospitals that where built all throughout the Rukongai Districts and that would give me a good opportunity to place a hospital in the district and oversee its construction personally.

I posed as an apprentice and servant girl to the brothel. I took no customers, the matron being kind enough to keep me away from the customers at all times unless absolutely necessary especially when I kept watch for suspects.

Yuriko and I stroke a friendship right away both being similar in many ways - she was quite smart, just not as much as her child whom she fawned over incessantly.

When she introduced him to me I immediately realized why the women of the brothels loved him. His eyes were full of wild energy and endless curiosity, he was not afraid to say out loud what he thought of you and just like his mother, he was quite the flirt; even at his age.

His golden eyes should have been a dead giveaway to me of his parentage, but alas I was too taken or blind to make the connection until it was too late.

Yuriko had told me how smart the boy was but it was not until we were face to face and I was the center of his intense gaze that I beheld just how smart the boy was.

"Mayuri, this is Hana, she's our new sister." Yuriko had introduced us, smiling adoringly down at her son.

"It's not," he said simply looking at me with furrowed brows.

"It's not what?" I asked kindly curiosity getting the better of me.

"Your name," Mayuri said looking back at his mother as if expecting her to tell him off. When she didn't he continued, "Your name is not Hana. I understand why you would want to keep your real name hidden here but you aren't very good at hiding the fact that you are a shinigami."

How he had known I was a shinigami was simply because he had felt my reiatsu as concealed as I was keeping it and compared it to those of shinigami customers and the retired shinigami turned guards. That was when I noticed the reiatsu he himself extruded also concealed having taught himself or by one of the guards how to do it properly.

"He has reiatsu?" I asked Yuriko noting her lack of it, another indicator.

"Yes, it happened just recently he has been getting better and better at controlling it." She told me this with pride. "One of our shinigami guards used to be in the fifth division and he has been teaching Mayuri a few things about it."

"I see," I turned to the boy who was still looking at me as if expecting something from me. "Does this mean you're going to be a shinigami when you grow into adulthood Mayuri-chan?"

"Of course not!" he said looking disgusted. "I don't ever want to set foot in Sereitei, I'm going to stay here and take care of my mother. I'm going to be a great inventor and make all kinds of things to sell here."

"That sounds nice..."

His curiosity on my person didn't cease for quite a few weeks. He kept questioning me and studying my every move when in his presence. I find myself guilty of having loved this child, guilty of the slight tinges of jealousy that would sprout in my heart once or twice as I saw his adoration towards his mother, his loyalty and utter love he expressed to her.

Having never had a child of my own I had often wondered about motherhood and as I kept witnessing their relationship I began to yearn for a similar connection. Instead I found myself opening up to this child even going as far as telling him my real name and position among Sereitei which he was unimpressed of.

His hatred for shinigami struck me as weird. He got along fine with the guards of the brothels even taking lessons from some of them, which he suspended in order to take lessons from me.

He didn't dislike me, though refused to call me by my fake name and being intelligent enough to know better than to call me by my real name he took to calling me "On'na" or when he was sleepy enough "aunty".

It was not until Yuriko asked me to take Mayuri out with me when I went to supervise the construction of the hospital that I knew where the antagonistic feeling towards shinigami came from.

I felt the reiatsu approach, concealed just like my own. I felt Mayuri stiffen besides me, his grip tightening in my hand.

This reiatsu was similar to Mayuri's in a way that could only mean one thing: this man was Mayuri's father. I kept walking; Yuriko had not wanted Mayuri anywhere near the brothel as it was obvious by her rush to get us out.

I was so lost in thought I did not noticed when we had arrived at our destination only noticing once Mayuri had stopped walking, the small vibration in his hand the only giveaway that he was growling in anger.

I had found the source of the hatred.

When we had returned that evening Mayuri had immediately excused himself and left us be, leaving his diner unfinished and cooling omniously between ours. She sighed and looked sadly after him until she heard the sliding door of his room close with a resounding snap. He had been unusually quiet during out trip out which had been quite understandable considering whom he had left his mother alone with.

That night, I question Yuriko of Mayuri's father but she had waved the questions away pretending to smile. I wasn't sure whether she was doing it to ease my fears or hers.

The next morning things returned to their usual routine. Mayuri would leave for school, even though he had far surpassed his fellow classmates it still was a form to keep him distracted and to encourage him to interact with those of his age group.

In the evenings he usually spent out after his meals, catching animals or fishing by a nearby river. He didn't like to be there when his mother began to work, he had a tendency to subtly and not so subtly insult and demean every customer that came in through the doors.

I had often wondered why he was not as angry at those men as he was towards his father or even worse since they spent time with his mother. When I questioned him about it one evening when we were catching butterflies by the brook he turned to me with his eyes opened wide and his head tilted to the side. He said in the most obvious tone he could muster; "Why would it bother me? It's not like she loves them. She loves only me and cares only for my company... a little bit of your company too I suppose on'na."

I am proud to say that he held a sort of attachment to me, he was not a very social boy and usually kept himself far from the human touch of others but those of his mother. Yet sometimes he would loose his cold detachment and would cling to my hand when walking together ―for he had taken to following me around when I left the brothel to run errands and three weeks into my undercover operation he had hugged me for the first time. Short and abrupt as his good night hug had been, it had been the most endearing hug I have ever gotten.

Since that day he made it a sort of routine to hug me good night and to hold my hand as we walked in the streets, even though he was old and independent enough to be able to walk the streets he knew so well.

While posing as the servant girl to the brothel I had managed to discover that all the women murdered had been killed in quite a clean efficient way, indicating that an expert was behind it. No signs of forced entry to the rooms of all the victims and no noise came from them alerting no one until the morning when their bodies had been found.

Either a rogue or retired shinigami or black op were my main suspects but the Red Light District was filled with them which only made my job that much harder. After all, some of the retired shinigami even some from my division (whom I had to hide from) were working as guards and had access to all the rooms of the brothels.

I could not see this as a vengeance kill by one of the shinigami or black op since the women seemed to be specifically chosen. I was having a lot of problems finding out more facts that I could trust fully since I could not personally go to the brothels and inspect the place by myself without compromising my true identity to the possible culprit.

All I had to work with were the gossip from the servants and courtesans of the brothels that loved to spread the ghastly gossip of the murders, but I could not rely on their words too much. After all, gossip changes from one ear to the other.

All they had in common was that they were the most popular women in their brothel and had only served to those of higher social status. That pointed out to all well-off shinigami and noble families of the first Rukongai district and of Sereitei, people that I would possibly find a hard time if not impossible to bring them to justice.

I was at a loss, and the more time passed by the uneasier I became with the safety of my dear friend and her precious child.


	2. Chapter 2

**Update! Yay! A miracle I know. I'm sorry I take so long I really am.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach nor will I ever unfortunately. All I own is the idea for this fanfiction.**

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><p>When we had returned that evening Mayuri had immediately excused himself and let us be, leaving his diner unfinished and cooling ominously between ours. She sighed and looked sadly after him until she heard the sliding door of his room close with a resounding snap.<p>

He had been unusually quiet during out trip out which had been quite understandable considering whom he had left his mother alone with.

That night, I question Yuriko of Mayuri's father but she had waved the questions away pretending to smile. I wasn't sure whether she was doing it to ease my fears or hers.

The next morning things returned to their usual routine. While I helped around the brothel, Yuriko spent her time occupied with her duties and Mayuri would leave for school. Even though he had far surpassed his fellow classmates; it still was a form to keep him distracted and to encourage him to interact with those of his age group.

In the evenings he usually went out after his meals, catching animals or fishing by a nearby river. He didn't like to be there when his mother began to work, he had a tendency to subtly and not so subtly insult and demean every customer that came in through the doors.

I had often wondered why he was not as angry at those men as he was towards his father or even worse since they spent more time with his mother. When I questioned him about it one evening when we were catching butterflies by the brook he turned to me with his eyes opened wide and his head tilted to the side.

He said in the most obvious tone he could muster; "Why would it bother me? It's not like she loves them. She loves only me and cares only for my company... A little bit of your company too I suppose on'na."

I am proud to say that he held a sort of attachment to me; he was not a very social boy and usually kept himself far from the human touch of others but those of his mother. Yet sometimes he would lose his cold detachment and would cling to my hand when walking together ―for he had taken to following me around when I left the brothels to run errands― and three weeks into my undercover operation he had hugged me for the first time.

It had been a short hug and quite abrupt surprising me followed by a quick good night he had left. Since that day he made it a sort of routine to hug me good night and to hold my hand as we walked in the streets even though he was old and independent enough to be able to walk the streets he knew so well.

While posing as the servant girl to the brothel I had managed to discover that all the women murdered had been killed in a clean efficient way, indicating that an expert was behind it, no signs of forced entry to the rooms of all the victims and no noise came from them alerting no one until the morning when their bodies had been found.

Either a rogue or retired shinigami or black op were my main suspects but the Red Light District was filled with them which only made my job that much harder. After all, some of the retired shinigami, even some from my division, were working as guards and had access to all the rooms of the brothels.

Perhaps one of them had been refused by the women and he had extracted his vengeance by killing them. I was having a lot of problems finding out more facts that I could trust fully since I could not personally go to the brothels and inspect the place by myself without compromising my true identity to the possible culprit.

All I had to work with was the gossip from the servants and whores of the brothels that loved to spread the ghastly gossip of the murders, but I could not rely on their words too much. After all, gossip changes from one ear to the other.

All they had in common was that they were the most popular women in their brothel and had only served to those of higher social status. That pointed out to all well-off shinigami and noble families of the first Rukon district and of Sereitei, people that I would find a hard time if not impossible to bring them to justice.

I was at a loss, and the more time passed by the un-easier I became with the safety of my dear friend and her precious child.

Time passed slowly in the old district but I still found myself, much too soon for my liking, in the end of the time frame that I had been given to work in this case. I was beginning to grow desperate as the news of another murder reached my ears.

This time though the murderer had been careless.

Blood, a small stain under the fingernails of the poor Kyoko of the neighboring brothel was the only proof there was that she had fought back. Everything else in the room seemed intact, except for the pooling bloodstain under the bed she lay on.

The murdered had stepped on the blood; I could see the footprint clearly imprinted on the sheet. I did not need to look at it for long; I could easily recognize a shinigami sandal from any other. I wore them every day after all.

I am not a grown-up Mayuri, I do not have his technology that helps him find people with the smallest trace of blood or hair. I do, however, have the ability to extract any traces of reiatsu from it and memorize it.

I hunted all of the ex-shinigami first, checking their reiatsu and comparing it to the culprit. None proved to be it and so I bid my time and patrolled the area, scanning it for any trace of that reiatsu.

Two days before I had to return to Sereitei I found him. He was an old ex-sixth seat of the Fifth division that Hirako-taichou had never really liked. He smelled awful and looked quite disheveled. Life after retirement had not been easy for the old seated officer.

That was no excuse for his actions anyway so when I the instant I laid eyes on and verified that his reaitsu indeed matched, I arrested him.

He recognized me immediately and having found the culprit I did not feel the need to keep my true identity hidden any longer. He was afraid of me; I guess he'd heard of my old accomplishments I shall not go into today.

He tried to make a run for it, but he looked underfed and exhausted so he did not get far at all. I dragged him back to the almost-finished hospital to keep him well guarded. I'm not a cruel person, I had him fed, showered and clothed all under strict supervision.

It didn't take much to get him to talk. He admitted to the murder of Kyoko, but not to the others. At this point I had exhausted all of my time in the district and had to go back. Some members of the second division came and took my prisoner to be interrogated back at Sereitei.

The last day of my mission I spent happily with my dear friend and her sunshine. We had a meal and spent the day at the nearby creek Mayuri loved so much. He was finding different bugs to dissect as we spent the day in complete relaxation.

I hoped with all my heart the criminal we had caught had been the murderer of all the women of the Red Light District, otherwise I was about to leave my friend unprotected. The more I looked at my friend the more I realized she was not relieved in any way. She seemed equally tense if not more.

"Must you leave so soon?" She had asked me that evening, as I gathered the few belongings I had brought with me.

"Yes, I'm being called back by the Commander." I explained trying to smile reassuringly. "Don't worry, if there are any more disturbances I will be back. Besides, I need to come and check on the hospital once in a while."

"I'll miss you," she said hugging me tightly.

"I'll miss you too dear," I took hold of my bag and went out of my room. The hallway was quiet and empty. Cold was creeping into me, it felt wrong to leave. Like something bad would happen but the Commander was not someone I could disobey.

"Mayuri?"

"Out with friends, I think this is the first time he has ever gone without putting up a fuss about it. He doesn't like playing with the children but he hates saying goodbye even more, especially to you it seems."

"Tell him I will come back for a visit, and that he needs to work on his shunpo, he's still much too slow." As attached I was to the boy I knew I would miss him most of all. I had grown to love him like a mother would her child.

"I'll let him know." She smiled like she always did when speaking of her son. "Don't be a stranger now."

I was not going directly to my division after leaving the brothel. Even though the day was already growing dark I was going to make one last stop to the construction zone to make sure all was going well before leaving.

It would not take me long to reach Sereitei if I traveled with shunpo, truthfully I should have set out sooner, but I had instead chosen to spend part of the day with Yuriko and Mayuri. I did not regret it.

I'm very proud of my division, most of all their determination and speed in which they obeyed my orders. The building that would soon be functioning as a hospital was almost done, only minor details were left here and there.

It didn't take me long to find Nadeshiko, my tenth seat and person in charge of this sector. It seems the hospital would be operating soon since the equipment and bedding was already arriving and being placed.

Only a small trace of light was all that was left of the sun when I realize I could not postpone my trip back any longer.

I looked up at the dark sky, my heart felt heavy with worry and my feet unwilling to move but either way I said my goodbyes to Nadeshiko and shunpo-ed away from the district.

The district was relatively small but crowed so I was thankful that I did not have to walk in the streets, even though that was quite enjoyable when I had Mayuri by my side.

I stopped three districts before reaching Sereitei, my way was illuminated brightly by the full moon that was slowly making its way across the sky. I stopped because my body had felt tired, strange since I had gone longer distances before.

I figured a part of me knew that the trip was not hard physically; I was well-trained and strong enough to make the trip back and forth several times before feeling any exhaustion at all. It was my heart that was having the strain, something was wrong. I could feel it.

I felt a disturbance in the air where I had stopped to rest as one of my division members appeared right in front of me. A division member I had left behind in the would-be hospital, a subordinate that was at the moment covered head-to-toe in soot.

My heart sank.

I have to say, not many times have I succumbed to tears but when I returned to the brothel I had left behind and all I saw was crumbled walls and ash; I cried.

Members of my division and citizens from the nearby buildings had gone out to put out the fire and look for survivors. So far, only three of the working girls had been found, burned but not severely, but none where Yuriko.

'I am sorry Yuriko.' I thought desperately as I searched for her and Mayuri. 'I failed to protect you and your precious child.'

My heart was hoping with all its power that the blue-haired lady had taken her little Mayuri and had gone out for the night. Hoped they had not been there when the fire had started, but I knew better.

Yuriko would not have allowed Mayuri to stay up too late. She cared for his wellbeing and he was a growing boy, he needed his sleep.

The moon was at its highest peak when I found her. The poor woman had not felt the fire if the several stab wounds were any indication. A collapsed wall had protected her from the worst of the fire, leaving her body mostly intact thought covered in ash and dirt.

I turned away from her as Nadeshiko came. She would take good care of her body; I could not look at her any longer.

I considered stopping, I considered leaving and going back to Sereitei right then and there and pretend that Mayuri was faring well. I did not want to see his body too; I don't think my sanity could handle such a sight.

"What was that?" Nadeshiko said suddenly, looking up at the tree line surrounding the now-destroyed property.

I looked in the direction she was looking at and scanned the area, letting my reiatsu flow with murderous rage. Hell will seem like heaven when I'm done with whoever had killed Yuriko.

I think the moon shined even brighter the instance my reiatsu hit the person hiding in the shadows who had his reiatsu carefully concealed.

Just like I had taught him.

"Mayuri!" I ran towards him, feeling him with my spirit pressure for any signs of damage but finding none. I think my sanity was affected either way since I could feel my mouth stretch into a full smile as I ran among the burnt brothel and corpses.

It disappeared as I saw him though, his face tear streaked and eyes red and swollen.

How dare I, his mom was dead and he knew it.

I embraced him, pulling him as close to me as I could while he cried his heart out. He had hid behind the trees the whole time, it seemed he had once again disobeyed his mother and gone out to catch fireflies.

Bless his little mischievousness.

I don't know for how long we stood there in our sorrow until Nadeshiko came to collect us. All the inhabitants of the brothel had been accounted for. Out of the twenty women who lived there and five men who guarded the brothel only five survived.

The corpses of all the retired shinigami who had worked for the brothel had been stabbed, even the two who had survived the fire.

How bitter tasting it was to see who would occupy the beds first in the hospital, and who would also be held in the mourning room, being prepped for their funerals.

I wanted to be sick, to lie down and curl up into a ball and never surface again, but the clinging child I was carrying prevented me from giving into despair.

'A red dawn, how befitting' I thought as I sat quietly in the hospital bed staring out the window. The blue haired boy was still clinging to me in his sedated sleep. The tracks his tears had made clearly visible in his innocent face.

I didn't know what to do. How do you console a child who's lost the only parent he has ever loved, his caretaker and his guiding light. All I could do was cling to him with the same strength as he held me.

How could I tell him that I was sorry to have failed him?

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><p><em><strong>Reviews are a good way to show me how much you appreciated the story or how confusing o sucky you found it. I like getting reviews, I'm needy like that. So please, review! Pretty please!<strong>_


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